Items of clothing are equipped with electrical loads in order to increase the wearer comfort or the fit of the item of clothing. In this case, heating elements, for example, can be provided in a jacket, the said heating elements heating up the jacket and thereby increasing the comfort of the jacket wearer when outside temperatures are low. However, secondly, it is also possible to provide lighting devices on an item of clothing in order to increase the safety of the wearer of the item of clothing. These items of clothing usually have a switch with which the electrical load can be switched on and off. If the wearer forgets to switch off the electrical load when he takes off the item of clothing, current consumption by the electrical load causes a rechargeable battery or a battery from which the load is fed to be emptied.